InsureandGo (www.insureandgo.com), the travel insurance provider, has welcomed plans by the United Nations to increase the compensation received by passengers if airlines lose their luggage.
The UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation has proposed increasing the maximum level of compensation from £972.80 currently to £1060.48 next year – a 9% increase.
InsureandGo estimates that UK travel insurers receive over 33,000 claims for lost or stolen luggage every month1, and as global aviation passenger numbers are expected to double over the next 10 years2 it expects the problem to get worse unless firm action is taken.
Lost luggage is now the second most common travel insurance claim after medical treatment and it cost the UK travel insurance industry an estimated £37.9 million in 20081. Research from InsureandGo3 found that of the Britons who have lost luggage in the last two years, one in five (21%) never got their bags back, and one in eight (12%) think their luggage was stolen intentionally.
Perry Wilson, founder of InsureandGo, said: “The UN’s plans to increase compensation are a welcome boost for travellers. Already some airlines are moaning that they’ll have to pay out more money, but of course the best way for them to reduce this is by improving their systems and losing fewer bags in the first place!
“Lost luggage is a massive problem for air passengers and unless something is done about it the problem will get worse before it gets better, given that passenger numbers are set to increase sharply. We think anything that encourages the airlines to buck up their ideas is a step in the right direction.”
